Isro will not make any launch vehicle, all tech will go to private sector

IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka said Isro is moving launch vehicle and satellite production to industry. The shift will leave the agency focused on research, scientific missions and advanced space infrastructure.LVM-3 launching with the CMS-03 satellite. (Photo: Isro)India's space programme is preparing for one of its biggest structural transformations yet, with ISRO set to gradually move away from manufacturing launch vehicles and routine satellites, handing these activities over to the private sector.Speaking at Business Today's India @ 100 Economy Summit, IN-SPACe Chairman Dr Pawan Goenka said the transition is already underway and will allow ISRO to focus on research, advanced technologies, scientific missions and infrastructure that private companies may not be able to build on their own.“ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or PSU,” Goenka said. The shift has already begun with the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, or SSLV, whose technology and production rights have been transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited following a bidding process.The next phase could be even more significant. Goenka said the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), India's most powerful operational rocket, are also headed towards privatisation. Unlike the SSLV process, public sector companies will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming transfer process, leaving private industry to take charge. ISRO's role, Goenka said, will increasingly resemble that of a research and development organisation rather than a manufacturer responsible for everything from rockets to satellites.The space agency will focus on scientific missions, developing new technologies, specialised satellites and advanced infrastructure. Once technologies mature, they can then be transferred to private companies for commercial operations.“We have already transferred 120 technologies from ISRO to the private sector,” he said.The government is also planning to hand operations of a new launch centre to private industry. Goenka said the operator could be finalised within the next four or five months.The transformation is part of India's broader ambition to expand its space economy from around $8 billion today to $44 billion by 2033. Goenka said achieving that target will require three major engines: government demand, greater use of space technologies by industries outside the traditional space sector, and expansion into international markets.The government, he said, must act as an anchor customer.The Department of Defence has already placed an order for 31 satellites with private companies, while ISRO is expected to build 21 more under the same broader programme.India is also pushing towards an ownership-based commercial model, where private companies own satellites and other space assets and monetise their data and services.For ISRO, the future could mean doing less of the day-to-day manufacturing that defined its rise as a space power, and focusing instead on creating the technologies and missions that will define India's next chapter in space.- EndsPublished By: Sibu Kumar TripathiPublished On: Aug 21, 2026 19:03 IST